Machine for



W. E. ELLIOTL MACHINE FOR APPLYING FASTENERS.

- APPLICATION *FILED OCT. 30. I916 1,313,941; Patented Aug. 26,1919.

4" sweets-shin I.

W. E. ELLIOTT.

MACHINE roe APPLYING FASTENERS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 30. I916.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Maw

gym:

W. E. ELLIOTT.

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FASTENERS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 30. I916. 1,313,941. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- W. E. ELLIOTT.

I MACHINE FOR APPLYING FASTENERS.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 30. 1916.

1,313,941. 1 Patented Aug. 26,1919.

I "Hum:-

WW 8 :1- '5 w 'gif qll 1 1 eff application, Serial No.

UNITE srarus PATENT orrion.

' WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN BUTTON & FASTENER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FASTENERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

Application filed October 30, 1916. Serial No. 128,618.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM E. ELLIor'r, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Applying Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

- This invention relates to a machine for applying fasteners to a piece of work. lVhile certain features are particularly adapted to button attaching machines of the type illustrated in which an attaching staple is formed from Wire threaded through the eye of a button, the invention as a whole is not thus limited.

Button attaching machines commonly are arranged to remove one button from a quantity of buttons, position it and attach it to the work. Most of these machines are provided with a hopper containing a quantity of buttons in an indiscriminate mass and these buttons are then removed and delivered one at a time to a positioning mechanism, usually by way of a raceway adapted to contain several buttons arranged 1n similar positions. The devices used for lifting the buttons out of the hopper and placing them in the raceway are haphazard in their operation and tend to scar the buttons by constant agitation.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved button attaching machine having means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of buttons together with means for removing said buttons from their temporary support and attaching them one at a time to the work.

The stripper mechanism per se, for re moving the buttons from their temporary support, and certain allied features relating to the feeding of the buttons have not been claimed in this application since they are included in the subject-matter of a divisional 158,996, filed March 31, 1917, and the stripper mechanism broadly has been claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 87,215, filed March 28, 1916.

With the hopper and raceway arrangements in use, there can be no certainty that the number of buttons supplied to the raceway will bear any fixed relation to the number of buttons removed for attachment to the work. Accordingly, there is no surety that the raceway will be just full enough and not either overflowing or nearly empty.

It is another object of the invention to provide operating mechanism fora button attaching machine constructed and arranged to actuate the stripper mechanism associated with one end of the raceway and other mechanlsm, such as button positioning, threading, or attaching means, associated with the other end of the raceway, in conjunction and with a predetermined speed ratio. The, illustrated arrangement is intended to insert one button in the raceway for every button removed but it is obvious that other speed ratios may be found desirable.

A type of button is in use which is more fully illustrated and described in Letters Patent of the United States to WV. E. Elliott, No. 1,206,755, granted Nov. 28, 1916. This button has a boss or neck upon' its base which prevents wear of the buttonhole and assists in the operation of unbuttoning the shoe, and a special raceway, having a shallow groove adjacent to the eye receiving groove, is necessary for handling them. As described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 128,617, filed Oct. 30, 1916, this raceway is preferably notched at its end to enable the eye of the button to be fully exposed and to provide button supporting extensions. I

A feature of this invention relates to the combination of such a raceway with a novel staple former anvil constructed and arranged to cooperate with the button supporting extensions to provide a three point support having certain advantages to be later described.

Another feature of the invention relates to the construction of this novel staple former anvil.

Other features of the invention relative to the construction of the raceway, and its combination with other instrumentalities, will be more fully understood from a consideration of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mechanism embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the button stripping mechanism and the transfer tube. for

t battens.-

F g- 3 a aidsele etion. of the. cons u tion shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a perspective view of; the button. stripper mechanism and the receiving end broken away.

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through the stripper mechanism.

Fig; 6.: is a perspective view of the for ward end of the. raceway showing the staple former anvil in operative position.

7.- isfa perspective view illustrating the. three point support 'for a button as it is held during the process of forming a staple through the. eye. thereof.

Figv St is a. plan. view ofxthe forward end ofthe staple. former. anvil: constituting part sssaictthree. point support.

Figs, 9and 10 are plan views of the staple formingand button setting mechanism the p-arts fof said mechanism in the two views being in different positions.

Fig. 1.1 is-a fragmentary side elevation of apor'tion of the. means for. operating the button stripping. mechanism, the button removing-.mechanism, and the staple forming and setting. mechanism.

Like. reference characters refer to like parts: throughout the several views of the drawings. i

T'he machine illustrated is an improvement upon that covered by my prior Patent No. 1,147,381, granted July 20,1915, and, similarly, is carried by a suitable support 1 adjacent the forwardendandabove which an auXi-liarysupport 2 is provided forcarrying the major portion of the machine. bracket I31isdetachably connected; to and extends to the rearfrom the support 2 and has... spaced apart: arms serving to support a horizontally positioned-shaft 4. A bracket or castingv 5.-is loosely- 'mountedupon the shaft 4 by depending arms 'and includ-es a forwardlyiextended part 6 to which a block Tmay be detachabl-yconnected by means of screws or other suitable fastenings. The block. 7 constitutes a supporting base for of the. transfer tube or raceway, with parts.

a buttontransfer tube or raceway 8: which is permanently. securedl to the upper side of the block. This tube is formed: of' sheet metal: fashioned at its under side. into a substantially Usshaped guide slot 9 (see Figs.

4: and 7 the sides of which at their upper ends are turned outwardly and then upwardly as. indicatedatlOforming a widened shallow.- groove at the. upper part. ofthe guideslot. Attheedges of this groove-10 the sides are further extended laterally to providebut-ton. supporting surfaces 1 1- and then bent upwardly andinwardily toward each other, terminating ateach side in ribs 12-bent inwardly toward the interior of the tube as best shown in Fig. 4. Tube 8 in its upper side has a slot 13 extending the full length thereof. The upwardly. and inwardly turned. sidesof the tube terminate a distance back of the forward end of guide 9 while the button. supporting surfaces 11 of the tube are extended and formed into flat fingets 14;- separated by a notch substantially as wide as the shallow groove 10, this notch being preferably formed by cutting away the guide 9 and adjacent portions 10, as shown in Fig. 7. This permits the eye of the button to be fully exposed when a wire is fed therethrough preparatory to forming a staple, even. when the type of buttonwhich is provided-"with a neck or boss is used. This construction of the forward. end ofthe raceway is not claimed herein since it is shown and! claimed in. my pending. application, Serial No. 128,617., filed Oct. 30:, 191

The rear end of the button carrying tube extends over the bracket. 5-. and over a ribbed roller 15 rotatively mounted therein. A block orv like membernldhaving a comparatively wide slot or way 1:7: cut thereinwhich centrally is provided; with the relatively narrow slot 18 is. secured at the. back of bracket 5:. The rear. end. of the button tube 8; ('seeFig. 2)- has portions removed directly in front ofthe way '17; 'Bhelbuttons 20 are mounted upon a long and comparatively narrow strip of paper 19' which. is entered. into the way 17 andover roller 15 and under the parts 11 of the tube. Theroller 15. is provided with a central groove 15* in alineme-nt. with the slot 18 andg adapted to pass the. shanks of the buttons. In practice the strip. 191 and; attached" buttons are wound upon a reel 21- which maybe rotatably supported byany suitable. bracket 22 attached to and projecting to the. rear from support 1. A ribbed-roller 23, mounted upon a pivotal lymounted. support 24, is yieldingly pressed againstv roller .l5 by thespring 25 and this roller 23:.alsol1as av groove 2'3 as shown. A hand wheel 26 is-connected to the end of the shaft onv which roller 15.- is mounted: and by turning the same the strip1-9 may be manually fed. between the rollers, so as to bringa series of buttons one by one up to; the openupper end of the raceway for insertion-therein. At about the point where the strip is abruptly curved inits passageiover the-- roller 15, the base of-thebuttonwill be subtended by the latas: the shallow groove ofythe raceway. If

buttons of' the type illustrated: are. being supplied, this notch will prevent interference between the end of the raceway and the. neck of; the button and; regardless. of the type of button, the advancing strip will carry the buttons forward to about the point shown in Fig. where the paper mount: is strippedaway fromthe shank. of

the button by the action of the rollers and 23, leaving the button in the raceway. The buttons will be carried along the raceway by the action of gravity and the pressure of the succeeding buttons. It will be observed that the notches in the opposed ends of the raceway may be formed by tapering the tube vertically and preferably leaving the lateral button supporting surfaces 11.

The manual operation of this button stripping or removing means is intended to be used only in entering the mound 19 into the device and in stripping the first few buttons. The mechanism as a whole is designed to be power driven. To this end a bell crank lever having horizontal and vertical arms 27 and 28, respectively, is mounted on a pivot 29 on the auxiliary support 2. A link 30 connects the forward end of arm 27 withthe forward end of a bar 31 pivotally mounted between its ends beneath the support 1 and connected at its rear end by a link 32 to a disk 34 eccentrically positioned on a shaft 33 which is driven in any suitable manner. The rotation of the shaft 33, it is apparent, causes the bell crank lever to be oscillated back and forth about its pivot. A link 35 (see Fig. 11) connects the upper end of arm 28 with a block 36 which is mounted for slidable movements. The link 35 is extended downwardly as shown at 37 and carries a laterally projecting pin 38 adapted to enter a slot in the widened forward section 39 of a link 40, as shown in Fig. '1, pin 38 being held in the forward end of said slot by a snring actuated dog 41. liisengagement of the pin 38 from the link 40 may be effected by releasing the dog 41 and allowing the pin to pass into the wider portion of the slot in the link 40. In case the parts connected to the link 40 become jammed or are otherwise rendered inoperative, the dog 41 will be pushed aside by reason of its sloping end and allow the pin to pass along the slot in the link. The slope of the end of the dog 41 is sufliciently steep, however, to prevent this action except upon abnormal pressure. The link 40 curves upwardly and to the rear and is pivoted to a crank 42 loosely mounted upon the shaft 4. A dog 43 is pivotally mounted on the crank and engages with a ratchet wheel 44fastened to one end of the shaft 4. The oscillation of the bell crank lever moves the link 40 back and forth and on the forward movement of the link, the dog 43 rides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel while on the rearward movement of the link said dog, engaging with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, gives a partial rotation to the shaft 4.

A combined cam and gear wheel 45 (see Fig. 3) is fastened on the shaft 4, the gear meshing with an idle gear 46 which in turn 65 drives a pinion 47 secured to the shaft on which the roller 15 is mounted. It is apparent that the periodical partial rotation of shaft 4 gives the roller 15 also through this mechanism a periodical partial rotation, and

the mechanism is so designed that with each oscillation of the bell crank leverthe rotation of rollers 15 and 23 is suflicient to move the mount 19 a distance substantially equal to that between successive buttons 20 whereby one button is removed and delivered to the transfer tube with each oscillation of the bell crank lover.

The combined gear and cam wheel 45 carries a plurality of radially projecting cams 48. A pin or roller 49 projecting from the lower end of the arm 50 of a bell crank lever pivotally mounted at 51 on the bracket 5 bears against the wheel 45 and rides against the cams and the intermediate surfaces of the wheel, a spring 52 serving to force said member 49 against the wheel. The other arm 53 of the bell crank lever extends forwardly and upwardly and is bent over the button tube 8 and pivotally connected to a bar 54 which at its under side is formed with a consecutive series of scallops 55 shaped to conform to the upper surface of the heads of shoe buttons. This bar is located directly above slot 13 of the button tube and is guided between guides 56 secured to and projecting upwardly from the tube. A spring 57 carried by the arm 53 has a normal tendency to depress the forward end of bar 54. A pin 58 on the rear guide 56 extends through a relatively large opening in the rear end of the bar 54 and stops said depresslon at a point where the bar is held substantially horizontal. In practice with each partial rotation of the shaft 4, the wheel 45 is moved a distance such that the pin 49 passes from one projecting cam to the next succeeding cam, bar 54 during this movement being lowered and entering the slot 13 in the tube to engage with the buttons in the tube. It is apparent that with the lowering of the bar there is also a slight forward movement imparted thereto which serves to slightly advance the buttons and right the same if any of them should become tilted so as to bind against any portion of the tube. As the buttons pass down the tube they are stopped by fingers 59 pivotally mounted between upstanding brackets 60 ad jacent the forward end of the tube and spring pressed so as to yieldingly hold the buttons against passage from the tube.

The slidable block 36 heretofore noted has a pin 61 projecting laterally therefrom which engages with the link mechanism 62 for operating mechanism indicated as a whole at 63 for lifting an ejecting finger 64 and causing it to engage with the foremost button in the tube directly behind the fingers 59. This mechanism is not specifically described as it forms no part of the present invention but is-fully described and shown. in my patentto which reference has been made. With each oscillation ofthebell crank lever arm 28, the finger 64 engages with and-re\ moves a button from the tube 8, carrying it to a position substantially like that shown in Fig. 1 With the button held against the forward end. of a staple former 65 pivotally mounted! between its ends as shown in Fig. 1'1

The front end of staple former 65' is of special formation and is provided: (see Figs. 9 and 10) with: a comparatively wide transverse slot 66 back of which are located two upward projections 67 spaced from each other, while in front of the-slot 66 av single upwardly projecting part 68 isformed having a width equal to the combined widths of the projections 67 and the space between them. The rear upper portion of the part 68 isformed with. a curved depression: below which and: in alinement with the space; be tween parts 67is formed a vertical groove 70. The fingers 14* on the forward end. of

the button tube: extend: over the projections 67 and; terminatedirectly' above the slot 66, as shown in Figs; 1 and; 3. This special for.- mation is of particular value for the ban dling' of the special form of button illustrated which has,onthe under side of'its head, a downwardly extending neck as shown at 71'. This button forms the. subject-matter of; my Patent. No. 1,206,755, granted Nov. 28, 1916. The eye 72 .of the button which; has'been brought forward by the finger'fie enters theslots 66 and 70, being guided by the projections 67. after it has left the groove 9 while the neck 71- is received in therecess 69-. The head of the button. onzthe other hand is supported at the frontby engaging against the upper side of parti68- while atv the rear it issuppiorted on both; sides by. the fingers 1.4, a'three point support being formed in this mannerwhich holds the button firmly against accidental displacement during-the process? of staple forming hereafter described. This-support I is also fully capable-of handling the usual buttonsa the heads of which. are.- fiat: or slightly curved on the underside.

The block 36, which: is; operated in conjunction with the strippingmechanism, is connected with a slide-73which, withthe irregularly shaped member 74: pivotally connected thereto serves-to operate" the driver 75 and the wire cutting and: staple forming member 7 6. The driver 75 isrigidly connected'to the slide 7 3; With. tlIG'fOI'WZLITCl mo.- tion -of the slide73,.the member 76 cuts the wire 77 and fashions it into a staple, the member: 75 modifying. the upper part of the staple to adapt itforshoe button attachment% as indicated: in Fig. 9 anddriving it into the work where it is clenched-by the anvil 84. The staple is formed! around the rear portion'lof' the. part 68 and the member 65-is then oscillated towithdraw thepart 68 and allow the staple to be driven. The wire is; periodically fed forward through the eyes of buttons, as they are held in position upon their threepoint support by means of the lever 7 8 and its grippingdog 79, saidlever having projecting legs 80 and 81 adapted to be engagedby a member 82 which is mounted on and movable: with: the sl-ide7 3; Retrogrcssioni of. the wireisprevented by a holding bar 7 9 In addition this mechanism includes a spring controlled plunger 83 which i connected to the. slide 73 and the member 82 and which; isadapt-ed toengage with and force bar 7 6 forward so. asto'hol'el the staple former 7 6yieldingly against the work while the staple is being drivenby the driver"? 5.

The firstpart ot said movement of the staple farmer-76iisz ositive by reason of the en gagement of member 74-therewith) while the concludingportion of themovement is yield ing under-the pressure ofitlie spring; pressed plunger 83.. Allof'this mechanism is more fully shown and described-in my patent to which reference hasabeen made andv is shown and: described herein only to illustrate its operative combination and: cobperation with the button. noted;

W'hile theinvention has been particularly described with! reference to buttons and at taching. staples, it will be a understood that .in some aspects itis of; broader application and may utilize many other typesofifasteners;

I claim stripping mechanism previously I L111 a. machine: for. applyingfasteners,

means for independently and temporarily supporting each one of arplurality of fasapplying an attaching device to; each fastei'ier'to'secur'eit: to the work.

2.. In a machine: for attaching buttons, a mount for individually and: temporarily supporting a: plurality of buttons arranged in a series for delivery to thenrachine, meansv for strip-ping" a; button from said mount and; for presenting it inv a predete-rmined position, means for inserting. a metallic fastening to attach the button to the work. I

3. In a machinefor applying fasteners,

means for independently and temporarily supporting; a plurality. of fasteners arranged in a ser1es,.a; fastener raceway, meansmeluding the raceway for. stripping. the fastenors from the temporary support for insertion m the raceway, and meansfor applying fasteners delivered by the raceway to The-iWOI'k;

4. In a machine for attaching buttons, a the raceway and presenting it in a defined 65 button raceway, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of buttons arranged one after another for delivery to said raceway, means adjacent to one end of the raceway for stripping the buttons from the temporary support, means adjacent to the other end of the raceway for presenting a button in position for attachment to the work, and means for securing said button to the work.

5. In a machine for applying fasteners, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of fasteners arranged in a series, a fastener raceway, means for stripping the fasteners from the temporary support for insertion in the raceway, means associated with the delivery end of the raceway for presenting a fastener in position for application to the work, and means for applying an attaching device to the fastener thus held.

6. In a machine for attaching fasteners, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of fasteners arranged in a series, a fastener raceway, means for stripping the fasteners from the temporary support for delivery to the raceway, means associated with the delivery end of the race way for presenting a fastener in position for application to the work, and a single driving means for said fastener stripping mechanism and said fastener presenting mechanism.

7. In a machine for attaching fasteners, asupport in which a plurality of fasteners is arranged in a series, a fastener raceway, means acting on the support for stripping the fasteners therefrom for insertion in the raceway, means associated with the delivery end of the raceway for applying the fasteners to the work, and a single driving means for said fastener stripping means and said applying means.

8. In a machine for attaching buttons, means adapted to individually and temporarily support a plurality of buttons arranged in a series, a button raceway, a stripper mechanism for removing the buttons from their temporary support and introducing them into the raceway, means for intermittently removing a button from the raceway and positioning it for attachment to the work, means for attaching said button to the work, and a single driving means for said stripper mechanism, said positioning means and said attaching means.

9. In a machine for attaching buttons. means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of buttons arranged in a series, a button raceway, stripper mechanism for removing the buttons from the temporary support for delivery to the raceway, means for removing a button from.

position, and means constructed and arranged to operate said stripper and said button removing and presenting means with a predetermined speed ratio whereby the average number of buttons in the raceway at one time may be accurately controlled.

10. In a machine for attaching buttons, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of buttons arranged in a series, a button raceway, stripper mechanism for removing the buttons from the temporary support for delivery to the raceway, means associated with the delivery end of the raceway for removing a button therefrom and attaching it to the work, and means constructed and arranged to operate said stripper mechanism and the said removing and attaching mechanism with a predetermined speed ratio whereby the average number of buttons in the raceway may be accurately controlled.

11. In a machine for attaching buttons, means for individually and temporarily supporting a plurality of buttons arranged in a series, a button raceway, stripper mechanism for removing the buttons from the temporary support for delivery to the raceway, means for removing a button from the raceway and positioning it, staple forming mechanism associated with said positioning means, and means constructed and arranged to operate said stripper mechanism and said staple forming mechanism with a predetermined speed ratio.

12. In a machine of the character described, means for holding a shoe button, means for forming a staple through the eye of the button thus held, a transfer tube for carrying buttons to said holding means, a stripping mechanism at one end of the tube for receiving a mount having buttons mounted in succession thereon and for stripping said buttons from the mount and delivering them to the tube, and mechanism for operating the stripping and staple forming means in conjunction with each other whereby -for each button delivered from the tube another button is delivered to the tube by said stripping mechanism.

13. In a machine of the character described, a button transfer tube, a stripping mechanism at one end. of the tube adapted to receive a mount carrying shoe buttons mounted in succession thereon and strip said buttons from the mount delivering them to the tube, a. support for buttons in front of the opposite end of the tube, means for removing buttons from the tube and placing them on said support, means for forming a wire staple through the eye of each button on the holder, and means for periodically operating said stripping, staple forming and removing means in conjunction with each 40 o 1 7 In a machine for attaching buttons, a

', other whereby each button removed from one end ofthe tube is followed by the delivery of another button .to the tube atthe 6 end thereof by said stripping mecha nism..

14.1111 a machine for attaching buttons, a readily removable,detachable button raceway provided atits delivery end with spaced apart but-ton supporting surfaces, a movable former anvil adapted to be positioned adjacent to said supporting surfaces and arranged to form a three-point support thereitsl for a button, and means for clamping a button in position so thatit issupported' upon the spaced apart extensions of thebuttonraoeway and upon said former anvil.

Ina machine for attaching buttons, a downwardly inclined button transfer tube provided with spaced apart forwardly p-noj oting, fiat fingers adapted to underlierthe base of a button, and a pivotally mounted par finger adapted to underlie the-bassist a but on, a rme anvil provided with a P ojecting 6 1d adapt d to be associated w th saidprojecting fingers-to form thereby three-point support for a button delivered from the body of the raceway, said former being movable into and out oflposition adja cent to the fingers and astaple forming ri ing me hani a o iated with aid former anvil and said raceway.

button transfer-tubeprovided at its forward end with a pair of spaced apartfingers, a member provided with a projecting-end located in front of and spaced from thefori ward ends of the fingers, said projecting end and said fingers serving 'as a three-point support for a button delivered fromthe tube,

, and means .fortakinga shoe button fromthe tube and holding it on said three-pointsups por v 18, In a machine of the character de scribed, a button transfer tube provided at its forward end with a pairof spaced apart fing rs, r delivering shoe buttons intov the tube, amember includingtwospaced apart upward projections located below the forwar e ds of sa d fingers and a third upwardly projecting part locatcdin front'of and spaced from the forward ends of the fingers, s id orward endsthe fingers and a as m nti ned upwardly projectin pa t serv g as a thre p t support for shoe utte staken from th tubameans ,eieem for taking a shoe button from the tube and holding it on said/three point support, substantially as described.

19. In a machine for attaching buttons, a button transfer tube or raceway provided at its forward end with a pair of forwardly extended, spaced apart fingers, a member provided with two spaced apart, upward project-ions located beneath the forward ends of the saidyfingers and a third projecting part in front of and spaced from said projections, for talking a button from the-tube and holding it on the said fingers and said third projecting member as a three-point support therefor, and means for threading a wire staple through the eye of a button thus held.

:20. In a machine for attaching buttons, a button raceway provided with forwardly extended, spaced apart supporting fingers, a former anvil provided with a projecting end adapted to be positioned in front of and ad jacent to said supporting ends, thereby to constitute athree-point support for a button means fortaking a button from the race way and holding it on said support, and means for forming a staple through the eye of a button thus held.

21. In a machine of the character dc scribed, a button. transfer tube provided at its forward end with a pair of forwardly extended spaced apart flat fingers, means for delivering shoe buttons into the tube, yielding means normally stopping the p assage of buttons from the tube, a member 10- cated below the tube and incl-udingtwo spaced apartwupward projections located belowthe forward ends of said fingers and a third upwardly projecting'part in front of and spaced from said projections, means for periodically taking a button 'from the tube and holding it on the forward ends of said fingers and said third upwardly projecting part as a three point support the'refonand means for forming a wire staple through the eye of each button thus held, substantially as described.

22. In a machine of the character described, a downwardly inclined button transfer tube, spaced apart forwardly projecting flat fingers at the forward end of the tube, andv a member pivotally mounted below the tube includingthree upwardly projecting parts, one in front of the forwardends of said fingers and the other two spaced apart from each other and the first mentioned part and located below the forward ends of said fingers, substantially as described.

'23. In a machine for attaching buttons, a

button raceway provided with spaced apart, I

forwardly extended supporting fingers, and a. member having an upwardly projecting end adapted'to be positioned in front of and adjacent to said supporting fingers so that its upper end in connection with said fingers constitutes a three-point support for a button taken from said raceway, the upper end of said member being provided with a shallow curved recess facing toward said spaced apart fingers and dimensioned to cooperate with the space between the fingers to receive a boss or neck upon the base of a button supported by said member and said fingers.

24. In a machine for attaching buttons, a staple former anvil adapted to be associated with a button delivering and a wire feeding means, said former anvil being provided with an upwardly projecting end having a transverse wire threading recess, a staple forming surface at one side of said recess and a button shank guiding means at the other side of said recess, the upper end of said former in front of said wire threading recess being constructed and arranged to constitute part of a button support and being provided with a shallow recess facing toward the wire threading recess and adapted to receive the neck or boss upon the base of a button which is supported, at least in part, upon said former during the staple forming operation.

25. In a machine of the character described, a downwardly inclined button transfer tube, spaced apart forwardly projecting flat fingers at the forward end of the tube, and a member mounted below the tube including three upwardly projecting parts, two of which are spaced apart and located below the free ends of said fingers, the third art being located in front of and spaced from the free ends of said fingers and provided with a curved recess in its rear upper portion and with a central vertical slot in the rear face thereof, substantially as described.

26. In a machine for attaching buttons, a button raceway provided with a longitudinal groove adapted to receive the eyes of the buttons, said groove being widened at its upper portion to receive a projection upon the base of the buttons, and a slot at either end of said raceway substantially of the width of the projections upon the base of the buttons, a stripper mechanism associated with one end of said raceway adapted to remove buttons from a temporary support and insert them in proper position in the raceway, and a threaded mechanism associated with the other end of the raceway and adapted to cause the threading of the shank of a button with the staple wire as the button is supported, at least in part, on the slotted end of the raceway.

27. In a machine for attaching buttons, a button raceway provided with a longitudinal groove adapted to receive the eyes of the buttons, said groove being widened at its upper portion to receive a projection which is supported at least in part upon the end of the raceway.

28. A button raceway having a longitudinal slot extending from the exit end for some distance toward the opposite end of substantially greater width than the width of the eye of the button and of sufficient width so that a boss on the under side of the button may project down through said slot while the button head rests upon the upper side edges of the raceway and permits the eye which projects downward from said boss to be entirely below the base of the raceway, and means for clamping the button temporarily within said slot in the raceway in order to be threaded with a Wire for a fastener.

29. In a machine for attaching buttons, a button raceway having a longitudinal slot at the exit end of a Width substantially greater than the width of the shank receiving groove of the raceway and less than the width of the base of the button supported in the raceway so that a boss upon the under side of the button may project down through said slot while the button head rests upon the side edges of the raceway, and means for threading the eye of j a button thus positioned with a staple wire.

30. In a machine for attaching buttons, a button raceway having a longitudinal slot at the exit end of a width substantially greater than the width of the shank receiving groove of the raceway and less than the width of the base of the button supported in the raceway so that a boss upon the under side of the button may project down through said slot while the button head rests upon the side edges of the raceway, means for threading the eye of a button thus positioned with a staple wire, and means for forming said wire into a staple within the eye of the button.

31. In a machine for attaching buttons, :1 button raceway having a longitudinal slot at the exit end of a width substantially greater than the width of the shank receiving groove of the raceway and less than the width of the base of the button supported in the raceway so that a boss upon the under side of the button may project down through said slot While the button head rests upon the side edges of the racea button raceway having a longitudinal slot at the exit end of a Width substantially greater than the Width of the shank receiving groove of the raceway and less than the Width of the base of the button sup- 5 ported in the raceway'so that a boss upon the under side of the button may project down through said slot while the button head rests upon the side edges of the race- Way, and a staple former anvil adapted to be positioned adjacent to the slotted end ofthe raceway and having a shank g iding means underlying the slot in the end of the raceway. p v p 33. In a machine for applying fasteners, means for independently temporarily supporting 'a plurality of fasteners ar= ranged in a series, means for removing the fasteners from the temporary support, and means for applying an attaching device to the fastener which has been removedfrom the temporary support to secure said fastener to the 'WOIk. I

In testimony Whereoflaifix my signature.

WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained'for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of 'IP-a'ten'ts,

Washington, D. Cl 

